The Grassroots Collective
Independent festivals are the best thing about UK live music and the worst-resourced. The Collective is a small group of them, pulling in the same direction instead of competing for scraps of attention.
Free to join. One condition: our logo, linked, in your footer.
Why this exists
The big operators don't have a discovery problem. Live Nation and the rest own the ticketing, the ad budget, the email list, and thirty events that cross-promote each other all summer.
Independents chase the same weekend and the same disposable income with a team of six and whatever is left after the artists are paid. The Collective is the shared version of what they have in-house — people find festivals by looking for them, so the more independents we cover properly, the more we become where the search starts, and the more of that traffic lands on your ticket page.
One festival can't outspend Live Nation. Forty pointing at the same place is a different proposition.
What you get
Everything here is free to members. No fee, no contract, no minimum term.
A full profile, free
Your festival page, calendar listing, lineup and ticket links on the UK's biggest independent festival guide. Free, permanently, with no upsell.
Two editorial features a year
At least two proper pieces written about your festival annually, plus inclusion in roundups and every seasonal guide you qualify for.
Competitions and giveaways
Run ticket giveaways with us. They build your mailing list as well as ours, and we promote them across our channels.
A private organiser group
A room with other independent organisers. Honest talk about what's working, what isn't, and what a supplier actually charged.
Numbers you can't get elsewhere
How demand for your festival builds through the year, when your audience starts looking, and which festivals yours gets compared against.
Your own portal login
Publish and manage your own listing. Update dates, add the lineup, fix a typo at midnight without emailing anyone.
What you give
One of these is a condition. The rest are what make the group worth being in, and you do them when they fit your calendar.
- Our logo on your site, linked back to us. Footer, partners page, wherever it sits naturally — as a link, not just an image. It is the only thing we ask for, and it is the whole price.
- Run competitions and giveaways with us where you can, or where it fits your calendar.
- The UKFG logo on other assets where it makes sense — newsletters, programme, socials, signage.
- A steer on what's working and what isn't in your own marketing, so the group has something real to trade.
None of the optional ones are enforced. It's a partnership, not a contract — do what fits your festival and your calendar.
This is the whole price
We send the artwork and a ready-made snippet with the link already in it. We check it by hand rather than policing it automatically, so if your site is mid-rebuild just tell us.
Who's already in
The first festivals are being confirmed now.
We're confirming the first ten
Festivals appear here as soon as they join and their next edition is announced. Put yours forward.
The obvious questions
What's the catch?
There isn't a fee and there won't be one. We get a link and a bit of reach from members displaying our logo; you get coverage and an audience. That's the whole trade, and it's written on this page so nobody has to guess.
How much work is it for me?
Putting a logo in your footer, once. Everything else — features, roundups, competitions — is optional and runs at whatever pace suits your calendar. We do the writing.
Can I leave?
Any time, without telling us. Take the logo down and the membership lapses. No notice period, nothing to cancel.
Who counts as independent?
UK-based, at least one edition delivered, and not owned or majority-controlled by Live Nation, AEG, Superstruct, Global or equivalent. If the badge went to everyone it would mean nothing.
My festival isn't listed with you yet.
That's fine, and it's the first thing we fix. Getting your profile live is part of joining, not a prerequisite for it.
Does the logo have to be a followed link?
No. A nofollow badge is still a badge and we won't lapse anyone over it. We would rather the relationship was real than technically optimal.
We'd like you in the first ten
Free to join. Add our linked logo to your footer and we'll get your profile live, put your festival in the next seasonal guide, and add you to the group.